MSN18 ran its engines for the first time

The first Airbus A400M “Atlas” to be delivered to the German Air Force has begun final tests at Sevilla. The four engines on the aircraft, known as MSN18, were successfully run simultaneously for the first time on 28 September at the Airbus Defence and Space Final Assembly Line (FAL). Germany will run 40 of this aircraft, which are able to cover strategic distances though also able to land on unprepared airstrips. By means of the national transfer of authority (ToA) to the EATC about one hundred of these aircraft will be conducted out of Eindhoven Air Base at the end of this decade.